Francis Tag

POPE FRANCIS – By Philip Kosloski, via Aleteia, and Maria Fischer Already from the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has demonstrated care and special attention toward humanity’s many challenges and has emphasized, on frequent occasions, his desire to create a “culture of encounter.” This year, to deepen his cause, Pope Francis has changed the form in which he selects his monthly prayer intentions that he entrusts to the Pope’s World Web of Prayer (previously known as the Apostolate of Prayer). Since 1928, the corresponding Pope has selected two prayerRead More

PARAGUAY, Melissa N. Torres A. • At Fr. Martín Gómez’ request the Professional Women’s Branch took on the apostolate at Good Shepherd prison in Asunción. Since May 2015, every Sunday from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Branch volunteers travel through every unit of the prison accompanied by the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign’s Pilgrim Mother. They teach the inmates to pray; they share the Gospel and pray the rosary. On one of these visits, the mothers from the Amanecer unit expressed their desire to have their children baptized, and incredibly, they alsoRead More

FRANCIS IN ROME • “Then we’ll have a serious conversation with the Blessed Mother and the Lord one of these days,” my friend José A. said, after sharing his thoughts on Whatsapp about Francis’ catechesis on 28 December, where he said: “complaining to the Lord is a way of praying. At times when I hear confession, people say: “I complained to the Lord …”, and I respond: “No, complain! He is the father!”. This is a way of praying: complaining to the Lord, this is good.” He is Father. TrulyRead More

CHRISTMAS GREETING FROM FR. JUAN PABLO CATOGGIO TO HIS BROTHERS AND FRIENDS • We share Fr. Juan Pablo Catoggio’s letter with great joy, demonstrating the gift and the task of the internationality and inter-cultural nature of our Schoenstatt, with the backdrop of Christmas as an event of a God on the way. Dear brothers and friends, Two experiences marked this year and both are very united to the mystery of Christmas: the Jubilee of Mercy and the international reality I experienced on many trips. 1 Pope Francis does not tireRead More

CHRISTMAS WITH POPE FRANCIS• Before giving his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing, Pope Francis proclaimed his Christmas message to thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and the whole world from the main balcony of the Vatican Basilica. He traced his way around the world, recalling outbreaks of violence, terror, war, and pain – both those events that are well-known and those that have almost been overlooked. He gave assurances that “the power of this Child, Son of God and Son of Mary, is not the power of thisRead More

VATICAN • 32nd World Youth Day, 2017 “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Lk 1:49) 33rd World Youth Day, 2018 “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God” (Lk 1:30) 34th World Youth Day, 2019 (Panama) “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38) These are the themes chosen by Pope Francis for the three-year World Youth Day journey that will culminate at the international celebration ofRead More

SPAIN, schoenstatt.org editorial team • Sunday 13 November. All over the world, the Holy Doors were closing. The Holy Year of Mercy is drawing to an end…this year has offered Christians countless opportunities for grace, the grace to be merciful like the Father, the grace of needing and being worthy of the Father’s mercy, the grace of a daily, personal, deep and real encounter with Jesus, in the poor, and the grace of showing him how we love him through our works of mercy towards his and our friends, theRead More

FRANCIS IN THE YEAR OF MERCY • Pope Francis on 2 November expressed his proximity to the Archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia, Renato Boccardo, over the phone for the people affected by the latest earthquakes, particularly the one that took place on 30 October, and said that during his visit to Sweden he accompanied this tragedy “and from there, I prayed for you.” Norsia — also the birthplace of St. Benedict — was hit by a powerful earthquake on 24 August that also affected other parts of central Italy. However, it wasRead More

GERMANY, Maria Fischer • The most moving moment is very quiet and almost as surprising as the moment fifty years ago when Fr Kentenich proclaimed and entered into the covenant of love with God the Father. It happened after the solemn Holy Mass when the organisers were already standing in front of the shrine, and were busy assembling the procession to the shrine. One of them asked, “Where is the Father Symbol?” It was in the hands of Fr Juan Pablo Catoggio, who was carrying it out of the “Elendskirche”.Read More

FRANCIS – YEAR OF MERCY • The Holy Year of Mercy is drawing to a close, and there is a sense that the topic of mercy is only just beginning. In other words, the Year of Mercy was a prelude, an introduction for what many people are calling the re-founding of the Church, faithful to its origins, in a culture of mercy, by Pope Francis and many Christians, who like the prophets and saints, have been waiting a long time. We also place, with holy pride, Fr. Kentenich – whoRead More

About schoenstatt.org

Our mission is to serve the life of the International Schoenstatt family and the Church by promoting bonds of solidarity - covenant culture - and offering this service as a testimony - culture of encounter.

In all our actions, we daily hear the echoes of the words given to us by Pope Francis during the audience on 25 October 2014, "a culture of encounter is a covenant culture that creates solidarity."

About Schoenstatt

Schoenstatt is an ecclesial Movement, where everyone, each according to his individual vocation and united in covenant, serves the Church and its mission and the world God has entrusted to us.

The core of Schoenstatt's foundation is the covenant of love with Mary, the Mother of God.

This covenant of love generates culture and covenant culture is the unique expression of our way of life and work, our attachment to God, to people, to nature and culture, to the Church and the world, which always departs from the covenant of love.

Schoenstatt's commitment to this covenant culture inspires it to go out from the shrines to the existential peripheries to "sanctuarize" the world, as Pope Francis says.